THE LIFE & TIMES OF GURMEET RAM RAHIM SINGH
1960 THE PROPHECY Dera Sacha Sauda founder Baba Balochistani Beparwah Mastana, at his last satsang in Jan. 1960, says, “After seven years, we’ll come in the form of the third body (guru)”
1967 A STAR IS BORN On Aug. 15, 1967, Gurmeet Singh is born in Rajasthan’s Gurusar Modia village, to Naseeb Kaur and Maghar Singh Sidhu, after 18 years of marriage
1974 GOT THE NAAM
His father was an ardent Dera follower. At age 7, Gurmeet is ‘initiated’, given a holy ‘naam’ by second guru Satnam Singh
1982 DROPOUT Is expelled from school in Class IX, apparently for misbehaving with girls. Also fails final exams
1980s GETS HITCHED Gets married to 18-year-old Harjeet Kaur. Gurmeet is a fulltime worker at the dera, doing odd jobs. Gurjant Singh, a Khalistani terrorist, is a fast friend
1990 SAINT GURMEET At 23, Gurmeet becomes Dera chief; Satnam Singh suddenly announces him as successor and a “saint”, ‘Huzoor Maharaj’ (possibly under pressure from Gurjant Singh and fellow terrorists)
2002 THE ACCUSED A female fan writes to then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing Gurmeet of raping her and others. He is also an accused in the murders of Sirsa journalist R.C. Chhatrapati and dera manager Ranjit Singh
2001 HELPING HAND Sets up disaster relief teams, which work in Odisha cyclone, Bhuj quake areas. Also works for cow protection
1994 HOLY ‘NAAM’ Gurmeet initiates the holy “naam” to over 8 lakh followers, asks them to meditate at 3 in the morning with a “true heart and reasonable wishes”
1992 STARTING OUT Starts building empire, spruces up the humble ashram, constructs new buildings
2007 DRESSING UP Son Jasmeet Insan is declared heir (though dera rules bar a blood relation from taking charge);
Gurmeet dresses up like n Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, in an ad, enraging many Sikhs. He apologises, but a livid Akal Takht files criminal case against him
2008 THE ATTACK Motorcade attacked with explosives by Khalistanis. Gurmeet gets Z+ security cover
2009 CASE DISMISSED Adopts Honeypreet Insan as daughter; Sirsa court dismisses case against him for hurting Sikh sentiments
2011 THE ‘AFFAIR’ Honeypreet’s estranged husband, Vishwas Gupta, files case, accuses Gurmeet of having illicit relations with his wife
2014 BOBBIT BABA Case filed against dera chief for forcibly castrating 400 male followers
2015 POWER CENTRE
The Indian Express puts him at No. 96 in their list of 100 most powerful Indians of 2015
2016 AWARDS GALORE A ‘doctorate’ from the universally unaccredited World Records University, London; awarded Giants International Award for his social work
2017 BEHIND BARS Receives ‘most versatile personality of the year’ award from Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis;
Convicted of rape, gets 20 n years in jail